


Paint Me

by ashleyerwinner



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Femslash February, Fluff, High School AU, Kissing, anna/ruby - Freeform, annaruby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 20:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3302576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleyerwinner/pseuds/ashleyerwinner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ruby and Anna, two girls from separate worlds, are paired to do a project together, neither are pleased. But when they find they have something in common, it may bring the two together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paint Me

**Author's Note:**

> my first femslash fic!!! enjoy! xox
> 
> trigger warnings: anna has manic depression, she's on medication (a throwback to her hearing the angels' voices, but i didn't want to make her schizophrenic; sometimes manic depressives hear voices -- also, although i do have clinical depression, i've only read about manic depression, so if i've gotten anything wrong, please tell me)

Anna sits in class, back straight, shoulders back, staring ahead at Mr. Alder as he drones on about Steinbeck's life. He's not a terribly great teacher, but she's trying to keep her head above water in class, trying to prove to her family and teachers that she has finally gotten over her "hurdle" of hearing voices. She probably looks like a robot among her fellow classmates, all of whom are hunched over or slouched back, rolling their eyes or texting as the monotone voice of their teacher blathers on and on. None of what he's saying is reaching her, but as long as she looks like it is, she'll get a good mark on her progress report from him. Honestly, she couldn't care less about Steinbeck or his life, but when you've been to a mental hospital and treated for schizophrenia and the like, nothing seems to faze you after that. 

She doesn't hear the voices anymore. Her mind is completely blank, like she's been living with a radio inside of her head for her entire life, only to have it turned off right when she was getting used to it. The medication does that to her. She wonders sometimes if she even seems like the same person anymore, or if she ever seemed to be something at all. There are days when she'd rather throw the medication away and feel like she's having conversations with a thousand people than sit in the complete silence of her head and feel like she's trapped inside of her body. But her parents wouldn't. They already feel like failures because of her diagnosis of manic depression, but it was never their fault. No one chooses to be depressed. It's something she couldn't have avoided. 

"Cas, you'll be paired with Uriel," Mr. Adler says, and Anna snaps to attention. A project? About what? And what kind of idea does pairing two people together without their consent a good idea?

"Anna, you'll be paired with... Ruby," her teacher says. Anna feels a dread rise in her throat. Every single kid knows she was admitted to a mental facility. Pairing her with anyone would just be cruel, but with _Ruby_? He may as well have just pointed and laughed at her himself. 

When class ends, she gathers her books quickly and rushes to leave the room, but a hand slaps on her shoulder just as she reaches the door. She doesn't have to turn around to realize it's Ruby. 

"Sooooooo, partner," she says, an amused tone to her voice. "When should we hook up to do this project?" Anna hugs her books to her chest and turns around, a forced smile on her face.

"Why not get it over with today?" She says, and although she's trying to keep her voice even, it comes out biting. Ruby only grins in response.

"Alright, princess. Your house? Great." Ruby raises her eyebrows, and disappears down the hall, leaving Anna stopped in her tracks, a frenzied look on her face. 

* * *

 

Anna doesn't think to wait for Ruby before walking home, but it becomes abundantly clear when she hears that familiar voice calling her as she heads down the block from their school. Anna blinks hard and slows her pace, allowing Ruby to catch up to her. Ruby slaps her on her back as she catches up, laughing and breathing hard. 

"Okay, asshole, way to ditch." Ruby says, and it sounds more friendly than anything. Anna shrugs.

"Sorry," is all that she can say." Ruby chuckles beside her. "So... what exactly is this project?" Anna asks, uncertainty in her voice. She sounds meek and powerless, and she hates herself for it. Ruby groans.

"Oh my god," she starts, and then she laughs. "I thought for sure you'd know. The way you sit in class?" Anna turns her head and watches Ruby mimic her. "Like a soldier -- a super soldier, or something. I have no fucking clue what this is supposed to be." Ruby says, and Anna deflates. 

"Fuck." She says, and Ruby bumps against her. "I need this grade to be good. If I keep slipping, I --" Anna stops in her tracks. Ruby doesn't need to know her life story. They just need to find out what the project is for, and get it done. Ruby doesn't push her to keep going, though, she just turns on her heel and walks backwards.

"Hey! Uranus!" She calls, and Anna turns to watch Uriel flip her off. "What's the project for Adler's class again?" She asks, and Anna feels an overwhelming surge of gratitude flow through her body.

"Timeline of that dude's life," Uriel calls back, and Ruby screams thank you, before turning back to walk forward.

"There. Now you can relax, princess." Ruby says, and although she talks like she's teasing, her voice is soft, understanding. Anna smiles and turns her head to face her.

"Thank you." She says sincerely, and Ruby rolls her eyes.

* * *

 

"Why is there so much  _pink_ in your room?" Ruby says, ignoring the half-finished project in front of her to look around and assess her surroundings. Anna shrugs. 

"Who cares? It's a color."

"The worst color." Anna gives her a look, and throws the roll of tape at her. She laughs at it hits her shoulder and bounces onto her lap, and she continues the project, a small smile still on her face. Anna cuts out Steinbeck's head (a very handsome head, she adds), and enjoys the quiet. Her fingers cramp up just as she finishes cutting the author's face, and she leans back, cracking all of her fingers.

"Break time," she whispers, and flops onto her back. Ruby gives a half-hearted "woo!", and stands up to stretch her legs. Anna watches her as she walks around her room, laughing at the drawings and pictures of her family and friends, and the stuffed animals on her bed. She meanders through the room, and stops in front of her desk, and starts rifling through Anna's stuff.

"Ruby, what is wrong with you? That's private." Anna says, not sounding the least bit aggravated. Ruby ignores her, laughing, and picks up one of her drawing books. 

"What's this?" She asks, and immediately opens it. Anna jumps up and runs over to her, swiping the book from her hand. 

"Don't." She says, looking at the ground, and Ruby stills, silent. 

"What... was that drawing?" Ruby asks, and Anna shakes her head, eyes still on her carpet. She eyes the stain right by her desk's leg, and makes a mental note to scrub it away. "I know... about the hospital, you know." Ruby says, and Anna blinks her eyes shut. 

"So what is this?" Anna breathes, her voice even. "You snoop around the crazy girl's room, report back to your friends about what insane asylum shit she's got going on?" Anna watches Ruby's legs shift.

"Don't take it personally, kid. Just means you're interesting."

"It's my  _life_." Anna says, voice close to hysteric. 

"Exactly why you should own it." Anna wants to hit her for how calm she sounds. She should be afraid of the crazy girl. "So, what were you in for?" Her voice is too light. She has no idea. "Stress-related stuff? What about... sleep deprivation?"

"I was hearing voices." Anna says, and she looks up to see Ruby's reaction. There is none. 

"And that drawing? One of the voices?"

"I don't hear them... anymore. There are nightmares --" She stops herself. "Why do you even care." It's not a question. It's the end of the conversation. 

"I'm not gonna tell anyone. Are you hiding the nightmares, then? Does your doctor know you're seeing those things?" Anna averts her eyes. Ruby sighs.

"There are progress reports I have to turn in... my parents see everything, and I'm on the medication and I'm doing fine." Anna says. She turns her eyes back on Ruby's. They're sympathetic. 

"I go to therapy. I'm what they call a 'problem-child'. Anger issues, a problem with authority, manipulative personality."

"So how do I know you're not manipulating me." Anna spits out, and Ruby flinches back, hurt in her eyes.

"Ouch." She says. Anna looks away. "At least I don't try to hide it, Anna. Sitting in class like I'm some robot who doesn't compute. My problems are a part of who I am. I'm not trying to hide it."

"So what, I should go off my meds?"

"No, definitely not. But pretending to be perfect is going to ruin your fucking life." There's a silence that falls between them now, and Anna feels herself relaxing. She looks up at Ruby for a second, and offers her sketchbook. Ruby smiles a small thing before taking it, flipping through to find the picture she saw before their blow out. "What do you call these things in your nightmares?" She asks, her finger tracing the dark-eyed monsters drawn.

"Demons." Anna says. 

"And the voices in your head?" She asks, looking up to lock eyes with her.

"Angels." Ruby doesn't laugh, or roll her eyes, or even look horrified.

"Haven't they ever heard of separation of church and state?" She says, and it makes Anna laugh. "These are actually pretty badass drawings," she says, and walks over to her bag on the floor. She rifles through it for a second, and then turns to Anna, holding a black eye liner pencil in her hand. 

"Draw one on me?" She asks, and Anna nods. 

"Okay." She takes the pencil from Ruby's hand and kneels on the ground where Ruby's sitting cross-legged, waiting. She studies Ruby's face, her bone structure, her eyes, the fullness of her lips. She brushes back Ruby's dark, shiny hair, and starts with her eyes. Ruby sits still, her eyes closed, unflinching as Anna draws across her eyelids, smearing the black makeup under her full lashes, over her cheekbones, down the soft skin of her cheek. Marring her face seems like an abomination of itself, but there's something appealing about the dark makeup framing her features that makes Anna's heart stop in her chest. she smooths a thumb over Ruby's lip and feels something in her stomach twist as her lips part almost instinctively. Anna ignores her racing heart as she finishes drawing the demonic face on Ruby's, capping the lid on the pencil and admiring her work. Ruby opens her eyes, and it's her nightmare come to life. But it's not scary anymore.

"When they're killed," Anna says, watching Ruby's dark eyes. "They light up like they're filled with fire. Oranges and reds, flames in the back of their throat." She describes. Ruby smiles, and it takes her breath away. They stare at each other for a second, a tense, heart-racing second, before Anna leans forward and presses her lips against the black-painted lips of the girl in front of her. She feels the sticky black smear onto her face as Ruby reacts, her hands in Anna's hair, pulling her closer, kissing her harder, the taste of smoke and cinnamon on her lips. Anna feels the dull sensation fade into a spark of something as Ruby's hands wander down her body, pulling her on top of her, grabbing her ass and pressing each other together. When they pull away, Ruby's makeup is smeared, cleared off her lips, and her eyes are darker than before.

"Asshole. I wanted a picture of my face done up," she says, and then dives in for more, a smile on her face. Anna'd have one too, if she weren't too busy kissing the smile off of Ruby's. 

 


End file.
